Gateway Deli: Kwame Kilpatrick's after-court lunch spot in Detroit

View full sizeGus Burns | MLive DetroitBobby Ferguson, who is on trial with ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, waits to be seated inside Gateway Deli near the U.S. District Courthouse. The deli manager says Kilpatrick and others have been eating lunch there everyday since the trial began.

DETROIT — When testimony at ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's corruption trial ended Monday, he and an entourage headed off for lunch.

Their destination: A street-level restaurant named Gateway Deli one block west of the courthouse.

"They eat here everyday," said the manager of Gateway Deli, whose business is located at 333 W. Fort.

The manager declined to share his name and said he wouldn't provide details about the former mayor's visit or menu preferences.

Reporters, anticipating Kilpatrick's exit to east of the courthouse, which has been his customary path, waited in the windy Detroit streets with notepads, voice recorders and cameras.

But instead of exiting the courthouse and entering a building to the southeast Monday afternoon, Kilpatrick and others, including his attorney James Thomas and friend and co-defendant Bobby Ferguson, strolled to the deli in the opposite direction.

The group waited at the entrance to be seated for several minutes. A large lunch crowd took up much of the deli's seating.

The Gateway Deli website lists two other locations at Ford Field and Columbia Center Towers in Troy with a 5050 Woodward location listed as "coming soon."

The seven-page online menu features breakfast specials, like Mediterranean and Balkan scrambled eggs; pita and Lavash wraps; sandwiches, including the "Pistons Fastbreak" grilled salmon sandwich and the "Tigers Favorite" chopped liver and pastrami.

So far, it doesn't appear that any sandwiches have been named after former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, but the trial still has a long way to go.

Court administrators expect the testimony could last 18 weeks and may not conclude until Christmas time, which could mean a lot more deli sandwiches consumed by Kilpatrick, his attorneys and co-defendants.